Award A Legal Settlement to Rose

Partner with Rose to channel environmental and consumer protection awards via accessible grants for maximum community impact.

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Recognized by state and federal courts, Rose Foundation bridges philanthropy and community, distributing cy pres and restitution funds to impacted parties. Entrusted with over $60 million in funds from over 700 settlements, we champion impactful environmental and community change. Guided by the settlement instructions, Rose directs money to grantees to protect watersheds, ensure clean air, and mitigate pollution. We also administer funds that support consumer advocacy or education related to financial literacy, privacy, and products.

Let’s Connect

Reach out to discuss a pending case or explore the process of setting up a grantmaking fund through Rose.

Jodene Isaacs
Director of Grantmaking
jisaacs@rosefdn.org

Why Choose Rose?

Choose the Rose Foundation to award a legal settlement and reach groups doing impactful work to mitigate environmental and consumer rights claims. Our proven track record ensures transparent, effective grant distribution that maximizes the impact of your settlement award.

Extensive experience handling funds derived from legal settlements–over $60 million from over 700 settlements.
Connection to small, frontline groups that are outside of traditional funding pathways representing underserved communities and unheard voices.
Our commitment to maximizing grant impact includes using advisory boards whenever feasible to get input from people with subject matter expertise related to the case nexus or from the affected communities.
Ease and transparency–we’ll take the administrative burden of developing a grant program off of the parties and carry out our grantmaking with transparency and integrity. We make our funding decisions available on our website and where needed, will do follow-up reporting to the Court.

How it Works

Supported Program Areas

Environmental mitigation related to air and water pollution or other climate related concerns, including pollution mitigation measures
Consumer advocacy class action cy pres or direct designee
Community-based health programs

Accountability

Once a funding decision has been approved, we will develop a grant contract to specify the scope of allowable activity. All grantees are required to provide a narrative and financial description of work performed with the funds. Applicants are barred from further funding until those grant reports have been received and accepted as complete. Through this accountability mechanism, which has been accepted as an adequate control mechanism by the US Department of Justice and various California State agencies, the Rose Foundation’s administrative process ensures that all grant funds are properly expended.

Neutral 3rd Party Trustee

Rose Foundation’s stewardship over mitigation funds has been accepted by plaintiffs, defendants, the courts and the US Department of Justice. Since Rose is not aligned with either side of the original dispute, designating the Foundation as a receiver may aid settlement momentum by removing the hurdle of negotiating advance agreement on individual projects or organizations. Instead, the parties are free to focus on, and reach agreement regarding, the terms which will govern the eventual grants. Even in cases where a settlement mandates the support of specifically designated projects, the Foundation’s centralized administration, experience, and accountability can add considerable value to the process.

Full Compliance

When applicable, the Foundation conforms with established guidelines such as California Agencies’ Supplemental Environmental Guidelines, and also provides reports describing settlement-enabled grants to the parties, the US Justice Department, and the courts.

Funds in Action

For 27 years, Rose Foundation, a court-appointed trustee, has managed over $60 million in settlements, facilitating grants in CA, OR, WA, and nationwide. We align awards with settlement intent, prioritizing community-based organizations in affected areas to drive meaningful impact in environmental and consumer justice.

Kern County Air Pollution and Mitigation Fund

Environmental Mitigation | CA

A retired math professor questioned the air pollution impacts of new housing developments in and around Bakersfield. The resulting lawsuit launched the Kern County Air Pollution Mitigation Fund which receives air pollution mitigation fees paid by property developers to offset the cumulative air pollution impacts of the new developments. With the advice of a Bakersfield-based funding advisory board, the Rose Foundation has used these developer fees to award over $2.5M in grants to projects designed to reduce particulate or ozone air pollution in Kern County.
Consumer Privacy Rights Fund

Consumer Rights Mitigation | Nationwide

The Rose Foundation’s Consumer Privacy Fund was launched in 2012 and has received awards from 15 privacy class action settlements – including Bank of America, Netflix, and Google. To-date, the Fund has awarded over $7.3 million in privacy grants to more than 100 consumer privacy nonprofits throughout the United States.
Puget Sound Stewardship and Mitigation Fund

Environmental Mitigation | WA

The Puget Sound Stewardship and Mitigation Fund was created by a record legal settlement between the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance (Soundkeeper) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway, and has since been supplemented by several other pollution mitigation payments involving Soundkeeper and other Clean Water Act enforcers. Since its inception in 2012, almost $6 million in grants have been awarded for projects in Puget Sound related to conservation, restoration, citizen science, environmental justice, shoreline access, and environmental education.